1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting objects from one location to another. More particularly, the invention relates to a rotating transport apparatus for transporting flat and rectangular objects, from a first input conveyor to a second output conveyor. The rotating transport apparatus has a rotary plate, which extends at least partially over the first and second conveyors. Carriers are mounted beneath the rotary plate in regular intervals along the periphery of the rotary plate. The carriers consecutively grip the objects conveyed by the first input conveyor, transport the objects and place the objects on the second output conveyor, with or without altering the orientation of the objects with respect to the first conveyor.
2. The Prior Art
Devices are known for transporting objects from a first conveyor to a second conveyor, where the conveyors are oriented at an angle of 90 degrees to each other. Such devices, for example, are located downstream of machines which manufacture sanitary napkins. These devices, for example, transport the objects from the manufacturing machine to the often-trailing packing machine. In the past, it was customary to have the sanitary napkins run against an impact buffer to bring them to a standstill. The sanitary napkins were then accelerated in the new direction. This method results in delays, and subjects the objects to high acceleration forces, if fast running machines are utilized. This can lead to permanent deformation of the sanitary napkins. Therefore it is desirable to reduce the acceleration forces experienced by the objects.
An arrangement is known for the production of towels which are layered on top of each other, for example, paper towels, consisting of several clamping claws which rotate around a common point of rotation. The clamping claws are attached to and guided by levers along a curved track to perform oppositely directed rotary movement. Although the hand towels are being deflected by 90 degrees, the orientation of their longitudinal axis is not altered.
When producing and processing these towel layers, certain standards relating to towels are utilized. Therefore, this known arrangement is only applicable for a certain working speed. In contrast, sanitary napkins are produced by different standards. It is desirable to have an apparatus which is capable of processing singly packed, folded sanitary napkins. This broad range of functions results in great deviations in the reciprocal intervals and in the feeding speed of the sanitary napkins. The proposed apparatus should receive the sanitary napkins from an input conveyor as smoothly as possible, i.e. without acceleration or hesitation, transport them in an arc and surrender them to an output conveyor.